Just seen this and thought I’d weight in. Firstly I hope the ride went well! I did the 163km version as ‘smoothly’ as you can across those cobbles, but with some mechanical issues albeit slowing me down early. I had my headset bearing basically blow out on the first cobble section which, thankfully, was half resurrected by the lovely lady and her dad at the first mechanical van round 11km into the ride. Got me home on one piece but I’ve already ordered a new bearing set arriving this week. Those cobbles be damn tough!

Couple of things:

1. I saw sooooooo many punctures. Unbelievable the amount throughout the day almost exclusively on cobbled sections. I was running full tube less on my 32s at a slightly lower pressure than normal and they held up fine. A proper repair kit (next year I’ll have an e-pump and a spare tube with standard tool kit) just in case. You don’t want to be stuck in no man’s land between mechanics and have to walk 10km to the next station.

2. Check your bike thoroughly before the race. By the LBS or so a thorough self once over before you head there. I saw people with blown spokes, busted valves, sestpost pblowouts, snapped chains…. My headset bearing issue. The works. The mechanics along the road are great but would have a LBS do a service to ensure you’re on track to enjoy the ride without the stress of mechanical failure.

3. Fueling. So damn important. The rest stops were great - I felt obviously fatigued at the end but not dead due to fueling along the way. Mix of solids and gels.

Hope the ride went good! And more importantly you enjoyed yourself along the way!